DISNEY has spent more than £53 million in Britain so far on making the sequel to its blockbuster Avengers movie, according to new accounts.

They show that the film, which features Hollywood megastars Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L Jackson, has received a £5.6 million helping hand from the tax man.

Assembled Productions 2, the Disney subsidiary which is making Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, received the money as part of the Government’s film tax credit scheme. This entitles movies with expenditure of more than £20 million to claim back up to 20 per cent of their production costs.

Production costs came to £53.1 million for the 13 months to March 22, 2014. Shooting only began on 11 February, so the bulk of the spending is likely to have been on building the film’s lavish sets and paying the actors. Downey Jr. alone reportedly received £29 million for appearing in the first Avengers movie.

Downey Jr. alone reportedly received £29 million for appearing in the first Avengers movie

The first Avengers film was released in 2012 and became the third highest-grossing movie of all time, with a total box office take of £880 million ($1.5bn) according to industry analysts Box Office Mojo.

The Government’s tax break has attracted the world’s biggest studios to film in the UK, which in turn has kept British production staff in jobs. Avengers 2, which is being filmed in Buckinghamshire’s Pinewood Studios, has employed 77 production staff, who were paid a total of £3.3 million.